Science research in America: Avoiding doomsday

December 21, 2012. This quickly-approaching date in our modern Gregorian calendar is notorious for allegedly having been ordained as a global doomsday in an ancient calendar created by the Maya. But after repeatedly being discredited by scientists at NASA and prominent Mayanists among others, the popular end-of-days prediction has lost some of its cache (not before being milked for its commercial value by Hollywood, of course).

A looming doomsday scenario of a different sort, however, has U.S. scientists deeply worried, along with everyone else who cares about the future of science research in America. Unless Congress intervenes, January 2, 2013, will be the day of reckoning when a host of deep federal budget cuts automatically reduce every area of the 2013 budget – including U.S. research and development (R&D).

Borne out of Congress’ failure to further reduce the national budget deficit by $1.2 trillion as mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), the R&D funding cuts will be among the most severe in science history. The reductions, coupled with caps on discretionary spending under the BCA, eliminate critical funding at a time when federal R&D support is already at its lowest level in a decade. While other countries such as China and India are working to increase their national investments in R&D, the American Association for the Advancement of Science shows that budget cuts could shrink the U.S. R&D funding by 8.4 percent over five years – a loss of $58 billion for those years and $95 billion throughout the time the measures will be in place.

The cuts will affect every federal research agency and will therefore weaken the abilities of organizations like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund basic research initiatives that produce important new knowledge and lead to technological and medical innovations. These agencies are already forced to deny funding requests for dozens of promising research projects every year because of limited funds, and the budget cuts will only make matters worse. This is a great disservice to the millions of tax-paying American families who are counting on breakthroughs from these investigations to save or improve lives.

Further, diminished funding will result in the loss of employment for researchers and technicians in laboratories across the country. Of course, it will do nothing to improve the already disappointing national unemployment rate in cases where the researchers are American citizens. For cases in which the dispossessed researchers are foreign nationals (who comprise 45 percent of all science and engineering postdocs in the United States), the ability of American research universities to continue to attract, educate and benefit from the contributions of brilliant minds from other countries will be tested. And regardless of nationality, the loss of jobs for these researchers, coupled with fewer new appointments for postdoctoral and graduate students, could discourage the next generation of scientists and engineers from pursuing careers in scientific fields.

Texas in particular stands to lose because its institutions historically attract major federal R&D funding. For example, in fiscal year 2011, Texas ranked fifth in the nation for NIH grants, receiving 2,436 awards totaling $990 million. The state ranked 7th in the nation for NSF grants, receiving 1,170 awards worth $268 million. All told, institutions of higher learning in Texas invested $4.0 billion in scientific research last year, with $2.2 billion (55 percent) of that total coming directly from the federal government. Thus, severe reductions in federal support could have a substantial impact on scientific research conducted in Texas.

President Obama has made numerous statements regarding the great importance of science R&D to America’s future. Now that he has been elected for a second term, the president has a chance to back those statements with action and enhance his presidential legacy. Since legislation is the only way to prevent the devastating effects of the so-called fiscal cliff, every effort should be made to work productively with Congress to develop a reasonable, balanced strategy that achieves long-term deficit reduction and avoids dangerous, automatic cuts.

The return on investment of federal funding for scientific research is known to be significant, and is often seen in the form of workforce development, job creation and a longer life expectancy. Scientific research can make our country safer, our quality of life higher, and our economy stronger. We cannot afford to turn back the clock on progress. Let’s call upon President Obama and members of Congress to intervene before things get out of hand. Ask them to leave the doomsday action in Hollywood where it belongs. The country’s future depends on it.

George Romar, a senior at Rice University, is a research intern for the Baker Institute’s Science and Technology Policy Program led by Neal Lane, Ph.D., and Kirstin Matthews, Ph.D. He is an Asian Studies and pre-medicine track student.